


A Scattering of Shards

by xsjb (zpnn)



Category: Original Work, Teen Titans (Animated Series)
Genre: By alpha I mean alpha timeline not the fanfiction trope, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-11
Updated: 2016-03-20
Packaged: 2018-05-26 02:14:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 4,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6219644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zpnn/pseuds/xsjb
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of poems, drabbles, one-shots and more about Revenant and her life, as well as the people in it. Probably doesn't need saying by this point, but spoilers aplenty for the Astriferous Parasomnia series.</p><p>Alpha 'Verse. That means it's the same Revenant from Astriferous Parasomnia, not an AU, not one of the doomed timelines. I'll make this pretty later.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. stardust

She crashed into our lives in the middle of spring.

When the world was waking up from winter and frostbite was no longer an immediate concern. There, she was a rush of flames and blazing green eyes. A strong but scared girl who had gone through so much in such a short time.

She didn’t know this world like we did, and I recognised the same unfamiliarity and fear that had struck me three months earlier. We walked this path together.

I had come from below, clawing out through soil and death, and she was stardust, descending from the infinite.


	2. power

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set post-titans formation. Maybe before Terra, so middle of season one, most likely.

In her confusingly short life, Revenant has tapped into power inconceivable to many of the civilians on this planet. It was a strange feeling of intuition, as if she was being left breadcrumbs of secrets in the deepest corners of the void she stood in.

A rush.

Not just adrenaline, but a pull - a yearning of a sense long forgotten as the sea of shadows enveloped her.

She wanted to fall into it and let it envelop her, become her, but she knew she couldn't lose what control she had left. They whispered of the danger this would bring home.


	3. dawn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Season 2.

Revenant wakes up in a cold sweat, disorientated. Images swim in her mind, and for a moment, she almost thinks the doomed timeline she'd dreamwalked into is reality. The absence of Starfire's breaths next to her and the lack of arms around her dispel the wondrous image.

Her head goes blank, and she pretends to forget it ever happened.

Revenant sits at the kitchen table with an absent expression on her face, eyes blank as she watches the sun rise over the horizon. The steam rises from the hot drink in her hands, but it lies forgotten.  Let her go.


	4. waterlillies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Season 1.

"I don't think that was supposed to be a hat."

"Oh, but Revenant! It is marvellous with my eyes! May we please purchase this..."

"Waterlily? I think it's free, there's no vendor... person."

"Lily of water, yes!"

...

"This is nature, so it is free? What about the flower sellers?"

"Florists? They're usually indoors and have a person watching them. Come on, you're going to get a cold jumping around in there."

"Tameranians have a higher tolerance to extreme temperatures."

"I have no idea what that means but I smell bull- poop."

"Here, Join me-"

"Wait, no! No-!"

Sploosh!

"Not again!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, maybe I need a bit of practice with dialogue.


	5. colour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From Revenant to Starfire. Something she'd think but perhaps never say.

There are millions of stars in the sky and all I want to do is look into your eyes.

It sounds cheesy, I know, but it's true. Though I think this daily, I conceal it behind a smile and under layers and layers of green and pink and blue. They overlap in and out of themselves until they become a blurred, muddied gray.

But to me, you're Orange. The energy of red and the happiness of yellow, the joy of laughter on a warm afternoon. The heat of summer. Like the sun, you leave me weak and I cannot hide.


	6. books

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Planned to be in the series at one point, but I'm not sure where to slot it in right now. Probably pre-season five. For reasons.

You never realised how much you had missed reading. It was a skill that hadn't carried over with you in the afterlife, but you new you'd once had. You couldn't comprehend it. Warnings went unheeded and you'd walked into the wrong place more than once, much to Robin's chagrin.

Naturally, after one such event where you walk in on Robin and Starfire getting a little too busy, he has you seated in his unofficial office.

"Look, Robin, I'm sorry."

"Didn't you read the sticky note?"

"I, uh, there's a problem with that."

"What?"

"I can't read."

You hate this moment.


	7. old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set in the future, during that one time travel episode with Warp.
> 
> Does it count as a doomed timeline? Sort of. Oh well.

You frown in distaste as you spot the next picture. They'll never get your friends right. Your blood-stained and aching fingers trace the frame as if it'd call them back, or at least dispel these impostors from here.

No one could capture the bond that had brought you all together; the humanity in Cyborg's eye, the stern concern from Robin, the power that rippled under Raven's skin or the mirth in the creases of Beast Boy's eyes. They never could contain Starfire's happiness in such a two dimensional cage.

Somewhere else in the city, they arrive in a tower deserted.


	8. circle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poem set during a certain sixth season. You know, when stuff starts getting really dark.
> 
> "What sixth season?" I hear you scurry to wikipedia.
> 
> The one that follows the other five. It's a fanfiction, I can do whatever I like. Hehe.

i'm going around

my hands are bound

they angrily shake

this isn't a dream, this isn't fake

he drags me away

and with that, becomes my prey

 

i do this for my friends,

and ignorance i do pretend

as he asks for what i cannot give -

"this torture, i will outlive,

i will grow, i will breathe

and when i take your heart, i will leave."

 

this is a promise, not a lie,

even as he places his hand on my thigh

"there are veins under here,

you can pretend to be feel nothing,

but i will break you, dear."


	9. sakura

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Directly after the trouble in tokyo movie. (Post season 5, pre season 6.)

"Heroes could use a vacation once in a while," Robin remarks at some point during the medal ceremony, but Revenant isn't listening.

Somewhere during the last forty eight hours, she's lost Starfire to Robin, and though she wants to hide it behind smiles and brush it off, she can't. Her grin comes out a little forced, a little awkward, and Raven sees through everything. She is an empath, after all.

A few hours later, Revenant is sitting under one of the sakura trees when Raven makes her presence known.

"Do you want to talk?"

"There's nothing more to talk about."


	10. geisha

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set a little bit before 'old'.

You apply your makeup with the precision of a sniper. Though your fingers are shaking, you take a breath to steady yourself.

The ceremony would be, should be, perfect - Slade has his eyes on every detail to the last millimetre of the carpet. There is no room for failure, and as his unwilling servant, this applies to you as well.

You glance at the mirror as another servant enters. She ties your obi - orange on black - and you tie hers. Wordlessly, hopelessly, you stare into the shadows.

They do not respond. One day, you'll escape this life.

And end his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figured that in a future where the rest of the Titans had been 'killed', Slade would eventually take over the world. Revenant fell into a depression after losing her friends to Warp.
> 
> Yeah, remembered the name of the episode I was on about was 'How Long is Forever?'. I can't believe I forgot the title. I love it. Also, yes, Slade is a weeb. It's my headcanon.


	11. nation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set mid-season 6.

Creating a portal to Alecia takes a lot of work. All you have to go on are your subconscious and the fragments of memories, of times in your dreams when you stood in tall halls with blue glass and a stern looking tutor.

Filling in the holes in your knowledge takes a lot of probing at memories, and you spend at least three months of your confinement working on what you can. You look out of the barred window, a cruel mercy, and you spot a crow in flight.

Like the crow, you will learn. You will spread your wings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "What does this have to do with 'nation'?" I hear you ask. Well... Crows are the associated bird of the Alecian nation, and have been for a few thousand years. From all of their time on Alecia, though, the magic has forced evolution in them. Yes, magic crows. They make amazing familiars.


	12. home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Season 1, pre-apprentice. Probably pre-red-x too.
> 
> Sometimes the titans get a little too comfortable with each other.

"Explain why there’s a bra under your bed."

"I-"

"My bra, to be exact."

"Well, you kind of left it there last night when you-"

"What the hell are you on about?"

"Language. When I was dressing your wounds, Rev."

"I don't know what you're going on about."

"You didn't want to go to the med bay, so I treated you up here."

"I don't remember this, though..."

"You had a concussion and fell asleep in my bed."

"Is that why you kept waking me up?"

"Well, yes, what did you think?"

"I figured it was just a Robin thing."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Domestic scenes are cute. Shoot me. (Robin/Revenant is also a fun crackship tbh because they'd annoy each other so much.)
> 
> Friendship goals.


	13. fear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Post Things Change, Pre Season 6.

It is ridiculously early. Somewhere in the tower, the alarm kicks into life. Red bathes everything, and sirens wail.

Raven wakes up suddenly, breathing hard, heart drumming in her chest as her muscles tighten.

_ Danger _ . A split second later, she springs back as her magic involuntarily breaks the lamp to your left. The fragments hit the floor, forgotten as you take a breath.

You look up and the room is empty. The sirens wail for a few more seconds, but then a code is entered and they stop. Four beeps resound. Beast Boy's been wandering again.

Raven should have believed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A surprise Raven drabble. Stop tripping the fucking alarms, BB.
> 
> Anyway, headcanon that Raven didn't instantly master all of her powers after trigon's downfall due to reasons. Like realism and story narrative. And stuff like that. Oh, and that she feels a bit of guilt about not believing BB during things change because she finds Terra later :').


	14. life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Post season 6.

"Victor," She forces out. Her tongue is swollen and dull. She gives a croaking laugh. "I'm alive."

The words don't make sense to her. They're nonsense, she doesn't remember a Victor. She doesn't remember anything at all that her mind doesn't want her to. As if they're separate.

Her legs are shaky as she staggers ahead, no destination in mind, and eventually they give way beneath her. She crashes with a low groan, quivering. It hurts. It hurts. The tree next to her smells like oak and misery.

Everything is too bright and her body just wants to give up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops there's a timeline jump.


	15. trees

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set about a year after the whole aftershock thing... I consider each season about 3 months or so unless otherwise specified. Really gotta work on a timeline for that. Pre-season 6, as season six is a whole new time gap because the intermission takes so long. Maybe three months after 'things change'. A midpoint.

"The Juniper is a symbol of a great journey," Raven begins. She's quiet, talking as if in hiding, and for once the group is silent. She goes to speak again, and then swallows her words. "Terra took a long journey with twists and turns, but in the end, she stayed true to herself. And like the Juniper tree..."

She trails off, but Beast Boy steps in.

"Let her grow towards the sun."

For a moment, Revenant thinks she's stepped into another timeline. It's the most poetic thing she's ever heard Beast Boy say.

"I think she would have liked this."


	16. fairy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sleeping in the med bay. Post season 6.

Your veins are full of icy rain. You are alive.

In your chest, the void between your lungs expands and contracts.

You cannot open your eyes, cannot move, cannot feel anything but the rain in your veins and the fog in your head. A breath on your arm and a caress of small wings against your cheek as something heavy lands in your chest.

The storm that rages inside of you lulls, but does not sleep. Likewise, the whispers of the unfamiliar  that are trying to coax you home do no cease. They do not give up, nor will you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this was more of a slightly surreal aesthetic writing practice, but the style suits the dreaming more than it would Revenant's usual speech, I suppose. It's mystical and airy. I like it.


	17. elf

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know when this one would be set. Need to play about with the timeline a bit.

You fly into books the moment you remember how to read, and you let yourself soak in so much new information that it almost burns you out. Though Beast Boy had given you a few playful jabs about 'finding her inner Raven', as he liked to put it, you couldn't care less.

What you could care about, however, was your sudden liking to elves. Perhaps it was because you had similarities, but you found yourself becoming a lot more attached to the elves than to the other characters.

That, and the first book you read has one decapitate a villain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to have this be about her getting really into WoW, but it comes out in late 2004. As you probably know, season six starts about then as well. It just doesn't work out. Doesn't mean she won't get back into it when she comes back in time for Burning Crusade, though.
> 
> I do see Revenant becoming a book nerd once she remembers how to read, though, even if it's just for a little bit. Flighty as she can be, she'd definitely have missed something so important.


	18. story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "But the theme is story, shouldn't you have gone with prose?"  
> I figured I would do something different, I suppose.  
> This rhyming isn't deliberate, though such it may seem...  
> Well, finishing this with a rhyme might as well be a pipe dream.  
> Wait, shit, I just rhymed again.  
> From further comment I must abstain.

a story can start from a spark

from white paper, crisp and stark

that sits empty, and is soon filled

through effort and dark ink spilled

a curiosity that drives us forth

from the south and to the north

such which embodies one such child

with a scar on her cheek and two eyes wild

she punches her hand through the soil

for her past she will work and toil

through field, city, chain, and fire

she will walk through battle and situations dire

her will is strong, her shadows as well

she will soon find her own personal hell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cannot stop rhyming, this is annoying indeed.  
> Posting this chapter, is something I need.  
> Oh dear, there I go commenting when I told myself to stop.  
> Onto this floor I may as well just flop!


	19. nothing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Season 6.

The water rises above my head, but you cannot drown me. Shackles pull me down, and though I am trapped, it is only a matter of time until I break free. My lungs fill with fury and instead of answers, all they'll hear are my screams.

I can no longer keep it contained, if I am pushed any more I will surely snap. The shadows within me rise.

Your blood will mar my skin, the walls will echo with your cries. I hope you realize that once all restrains break- the only one begging for mercy will be you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I realised why the numbers were out of sync with the challenge just now. Number 19 is missing from every record of the list I could find.
> 
> No matter, I'll just stick Nineteen here.


	20. emperor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably a first draft that got removed from some part of The Planetary Guide. Good for a drabble, not so informative for the actual guide.

There are no kings or emperors in Alecia. Alecia is not ruled by one person, but by a Council. In ages past, long before the Barrier rose or the Spire was complete, we had The Archiver to lead us.

The Archiver knew of everything that had happened on this planet, and everything that ever would happen to it. They were granted the boon of True Vision, a rarity in our people.

Therefore, they knew under who's authority would lead us to prosperity, or which would doom us.

This does not explain how The Council came to be. That's for... later.


	21. alice in wonderland

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Post season 6. Or maybe pre season 6.

Revenant has found herself in a peculiar predicament. Again, she might add, her curiosity has decided to bite her in the ass. A routine mission and eventual chase of a man who seemed to be able to disappear and reappear at will has ended in catastrophic failure.

And as such, her captor sits across from her, top hat on his head as he sips from a glass of tea.

Normally, she would have jumped across the table and kicked the guy in the throat by this point, but she is forced to stay sitting in the seat.

Stupid mind control.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As much as I like this one, I kind of want to extend it.
> 
> This was originally just an idea in my mind, but now that I'm planning it... well, maybe it really will be a scene in Astriferous.


	22. queen of hearts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Season 4, pre season finale by a few days or so.
> 
> The Queen of Hearts is supposed to be charming and warm. It represents the much loved mother and the sweetheart. Mother Mae Eye appears to be these things - and the Queen of Hearts card is supposed to be one that has favourable influence.
> 
> Yeah.

Mother Mae Eye loves her children dearly. So when she sees her little Revvy-Boo suddenly crumple to the floor, she is upon her in an instant. Her child’s eyes are flickering everywhere, but unseeing, muscles twitching and shaking without control.

Distantly, Mother Mae Eye wonders if it’s to do with her pies, if her little dea has developed an allergy, but some old memory comes to her and she lays her blonde little girl onto her side. Fortunately she has oodles of experience with epileptic kids.

Her little dear will be alright. She is fortunate her other children weren't here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like Mother Mae Eye deserves more than this, though. A lot of the minor characters didn't get a lot of information or background, so this is going to be present a bit more in astriferous so that things can be a bit a bit more relevant.
> 
> I feel like she really was a doting mother, who had a child who had seizures so she wrapped all of her kids in cotton wool (metaphorically). They all ended up leaving her in one way or another - the sick kid died and the others gew up and moved far away.
> 
> And then one of them gets into magic and curses her in an argument and yeah 'tis a curse she is now doomed to repeat and go on with. Needs a bit more thought, I think.
> 
> Might expand on this later, albeit it'll have to appear in Astriferous.


	23. inspiration

** 928 Spells for the Alecian Magi **

_ An excerpt from the introduction… _

It takes more than just your will to weave some of the spells described in this book, but a relationship with the above. Whether that is through pledging yourself to an order of one of the Gods, or directly forming a relationship, it is sometimes necessary to call on them for guidance or protection through dire situations.

We call this Inspiration, for our God communicates to us directly. Some of us are naturally inclined, favoured by their patron God, whereas others have been damned entirely to never receive it.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Post Season 6.
> 
> Okay, now I'm back on track. The list had skipped out number 19, so I've had to try and hunt for the original. Turns out that I couldn't find the original '19' so I've just replaced it with a new one for 'nothing', bumping out the rest up to this chapter up by one chapter. So now we're back on track.

They find you unmoving, but awake, curled up on your side in the pouring rain. You're far too thin, have a great gash in your side that requires stitches, and two broken legs.

You know this, because they tell you. You hear them through the storm in your head, and all you can do is watch the world shift under your feet. You don't speak. You don't move. You stare at some point in the distance as everything crashes down.

Occasionally, you hear yourself repeat something you've been told, or you move your head. Your friends are told it is progress.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trauma induced catatonia is an awful thing.


	25. unicorn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pre-Terra. No fixed point.

Revenant wonders what kind of child she would have been. Maybe she was into princesses and adventures. This wouldn't be such a drastic change from the present, she thinks, watching Starfire take on the assault course.

Perhaps she was into unicorns and dragons. Or perhaps science or history. The possibilities are endless.

Alas, all she has to go on are her current memories, so everything she thinks she should know about herself is... obscured. Hiding behind a veil. The woman in the mirror is unfamiliar and she doesn't recognise herself at all.

She is edges and mist, closing sad eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspiration was pretty shitty for this one, tbh. A lot of the themes for this 100 themes challenge are kind of same-y or too specific.
> 
> And now, a intermission.


	26. intermission - at death's door

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Intermission Piece - It's a task of waiting for Beast Boy, and though he's late sometimes, he usually turns up okay. Though you'd wish that he was just late to a party, not to this. Never to this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Intermission pieces are 'breaks' from the 100 theme challenge, each spanning about 5 separate entries/chapters to deviate from the 100 word rule. Yes, I just pulled that out of my ass. No, I don't know what I'm going to do for the next four pieces. We'll find out later, I guess?

Cyborg is hunched over his newest project, some tool in his hand as he joins wires to a circuit board. He'd explained what it was a few minutes ago, but the words went straight over your head until he'd switched to simple English; spare parts. It was hard to make another set of arms if you'd lost both of them, he'd reasoned, so every now and then he'd stock up and make some more. As far as creating things went, arms could get pretty complicated, so you'd kept distractions to a minimum.

Which, inevitably, means that you stay away from his tools and perch on one of his chairs, instead. The thing's almost a bench to you; it was built to stand Cyborg's weight and width, after all, and you are dwarfed by it. Your legs are folded over each other, and you're fidgeting again. Cyborg was a patient person, though - doesn't snap at you knowing what he does. This is only a brief reprieve from the day's events, and perhaps he's a little too distracted to call you out on it.

You're almost completely immersed in his workings, watching his hands tinker on something with precise and quick movements. Your brain can't fully comprehend it, but you see everything . The gears moving and being slotted into place, wires soldering, the joints in Cyborg's mechanical hands moving with accuracy no human could hope to match. How does he know which pieces specifically to join up? They all look the same to you.

Neither of you has slept in twenty three hours, but Cyborg's face is focused and the worry and tension has, for the time being, left his face. You still feel it stirring in him like black sludge, but it isn't a feeling that can be erased. Not until he knows Beast Boy is alright.

You observe as he methodically attaches the next piece, calculating the exact dimensions required for the next part. Highly efficient, like his machines, like his security systems. Like him. Somewhere in the last hour, a repetitive twitching has started in your hands, and even now, it occasionally ticks away. You're still watching his hands move, and you almost feel in tune with him.

The silence is broken by the occasional flicker or clink of noise. You're not bored, as per se, but you feel Beast Boy's absence too well, knowing why it is. He's currently dozing in the Medical Bay, last you checked,  with two broken ribs and various other injuries. The entire team had been in a state on returning from the mission, but Beast Boy had arguably had the roughest deal. He's doing better, now that you and Raven had taken turns at stabilising him and healing what you could, but you'd all need rest before either of you could call on your energies again. Especially Beast Boy, whose life had been on the line hours before.

You, however, could not sleep. Your mind was working overtime and there was an unpleasant and uncomfortable flutter nestling in your stomach. _Please let him be okay, please let him be okay_. You bounce your right leg a bit in worry, and your mind mulls it all over, trying to process things.

Cyborg hadn't wanted to leave Beast Boy's side at all, visibly agitated even as he replaced his left arm (again) or inserted the IV line. Robin had strict orders. He and Starfire would be on first watches whilst everyone else had some rest. Raven wasn't too happy with it either, but after dozing off on the way home, there was no chance she'd be able to get away with staying behind without a heated argument. Or four.

This had been the only way to compromise, in the end. Starfire had taken Raven to bed, and on leaving the med bay, you and Cyborg had shared a look. He'd asked you if you wanted to hang out, the unspoken worry for your green friend hanging thick in the air. You had agreed, so this is where you'd been for the past five hours, nodding on and off in various positions and the occasional snippet of conversation. The sun has yet to rise, you'd gather from the hour on Cyborg's wrist when you ask him. Four in the morning. There's no sun icon on his wrist clock, so you suppose the tower's sensors haven't detected the sun rising over the horizon, either.

There's a sticker note on both of your bedroom doors saying where you are (that you managed to con Cyborg into writing, so your secret stays safe), and though Robin hasn't joined you at all, you're half expecting to see a terse ' _Ten laps around the tower. No powers._ ' in the morning for outright ignoring his words. Half of you thinks he won't, though. He understands, you think, because you've all been in this boat so many times before. In this line of work, it's going to happen a lot more.

But it shows he cares, at any rate, just that he keeps his composure even when the rest of you are barely holding on. The role of a leader. On the flip side, Starfire had more or less lost her temper in a rare show of her true warrior spirit when Beast Boy had fallen. He'd taken a nasty blow to the head, being knocked from one form to another. His enemy hadn't stopped attacking, hell bent on beating him to death, and Starfire had noticed the dishonourable act before you had.

Gods, if you had, he'd be in more pieces than the huge jigsaw Raven had hidden in her room.

The one that Raven was probably dismantling with her powers right now. You make a mental note to check on her later when she's cooled down a little, lest you similarly end up in thousands of pieces.

You watch Cyborg for a little while longer, head resting against the back of the chair as you see how much he's progressed - he's finished the hand now, and it's starting to take shape - before you say anything else.

"What would you have done?" You ask, crossing your arms. One of the tips of your ears brushes against the back of the seat, and it twitches away from the sudden cold.

"What do you mean?" He asks back without missing a beat. The tension is still in his frame, and he's reminded of reality in the same way one would sink into a too-hot bath when Revenant sees him straighten up.

The distraction in his voice is evident - he's still occupied by his project, voice lower than usual, but perhaps less so than earlier.

"Like, if you'd been there first, when he was..."

You trail off, making a gesture with your hand. You don't really know how to describe 'getting his ass kicked' without sounding like you didn't care, so you settle for silence. Without even looking at you, Cyborg seems to already know this.

"Rev," He sighs, "It's complicated. I'd want to beat the tar out of the guy, too."

The mental image is nicer than seeing your teammates blood on the floor. Maybe Cyborg's Sonic Cannon could have knocked the guy through the wall. Or multiple walls. Maybe he'd feel Cyborg's fist of justice and realise how well and truly out of line he had been.

Maybe the guy shouldn't have been there at all, and for one grim second you're reminded of the grim reality of murder.

"Why not?" You ask, after a pause to reconsider cutting the villain in half.

"Because we're heroes, man. It's that simple... and that illegal."

* * *

 

It turns out, later on, that Beast Boy is okay. You sneak him some food when nobody else is looking and get rewarded with a "Good going, Grandma," for your efforts.

You could be offended, but you're not. You'd rather be a grandma than grieving for one of your best friends, any day.

So instead, you give him a noogie as you heal the wound on his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rewarding myself with a one-shot. :D
> 
> ... Okay, this has been in the works for a week or two before I even started this, but that's not the point.


	27. intermission - nobody can save you but yourself

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Post season 6, before 'Doll'.

nobody can save you but yourself;

you pull yourself out of places

made for someone you have forgotten

buried out of sight, of mind

buried in the soil you slept

though now you taste the air

 

nobody can save you but yourself;

you remember nothing of your life

(or whatever was before this existence)

nor do you remember anyone else...

and the idea of predators seems

like it isn't so impossible, anymore

 

nobody can save you but yourself.

you are a superhero, caped crusader

without a cape, without a gimmick

you are just you, no imitation

no past to hide behind, but

also no attachments to these strangers

 

nobody can save you but yourself.

but one day you hope that

you will be able to trust

these friends you're beginning to call

beast boy, cyborg, starfire, raven, robin

and for the team you created

 

nobody can save you but yourself.

it is easy enough to submit

but you refuse to lose hope

even as he breaks your bones

or forces his way inside places

he had no right to be

 

nobody can save you but yourself.

the thought crystallises, sets into place

turns your heart to ice, temporarily

and you lash out at those

who hurt you, scarred you through

your voice is raw from screaming

 

nobody can save you but yourself.

you're losing blood, you're losing hope.

what life you had is gone

your eyes are dead and darkened

as your friends discover you again

staring into the void, to infinity


	28. intermission - ten words

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Post season 6

 

you lose yourself down there

but you're pulling yourself back


End file.
